Research Project
As the name implies, a cloud chamber is a chamber inside which the conditions for a cloud to form are created. The cloud is seen as a mist which arises by supersaturating the gas inside the chamber, the gas is then cooled causing the liquid to condense into droplets.
The original cloud chamber, first realised by Charles Wilson (1869-1959) in 1911, was the Wilson chamber or expansion chamber. This version works by having a diaphragm which allows you to expand the supersaturated air within the chamber. Owing to the rapid expansion of the air, via the diaphragm, the air cools adiabatically and the water condenses into droplets and the cloud forms. The downside to this method is that the cloud only lasts momentarily.
A more useful method is the diffusion cloud chamber. This works by introducing a temperature gradient across the vertical plane of the chamber. The liquid is warmed at the top so that it vapourises and supersaturates the air, the base is then kept cold enough such that the supersaturated air can no longer contain so much moisture and the vapour condenses into droplets. The advantage to this is that it can be kept running indefinitely.
The original cloud chamber, first realised by Charles Wilson (1869-1959) in 1911, was the Wilson chamber or expansion chamber. This version works by having a diaphragm which allows you to expand the supersaturated air within the chamber. Owing to the rapid expansion of the air, via the diaphragm, the air cools adiabatically and the water condenses into droplets and the cloud forms. The downside to this method is that the cloud only lasts momentarily.
A more useful method is the diffusion cloud chamber. This works by introducing a temperature gradient across the vertical plane of the chamber. The liquid is warmed at the top so that it vapourises and supersaturates the air, the base is then kept cold enough such that the supersaturated air can no longer contain so much moisture and the vapour condenses into droplets. The advantage to this is that it can be kept running indefinitely.
Background Information
